AUBURN HILLS – The Pistons’ Richard Hamilton watched a lot of basketball both before and after stepping on an NBA floor.

For a role model, he picked Indiana’s Reggie Miller, not a bad choice at all. So watch Hamilton. He works like Miller does, uses screens like Miller does, runs opponents ragged like Miller does.

And now he even flops like Miller does.

“He got me once and I said, ‘I’ve got to find a way to get him back,’ ” Hamilton said of Miller drawing an offensive foul on him during the Eastern Conference Finals that resumed here last night in Game 3 after the teams split two in Indy.

Hamilton got Miller – he drew a Game 2 charge, using some of the finer points he got from Spike Lee’s leading nemesis.

“It’s hard to do, but once you get it, you’ve got it. The majority of it is acting,” said Hamilton.

“It doesn’t come natural to me because I’m not used to doing it. I tell people all the time, I hate to flop. But when a guy’s doing it on you and it’s working you’ve got to steal it from him and hopefully do it for yourself. He got me and it was like, ‘Damn.’ Then I got him back and I kind of laughed, ‘I got you with your own stuff.’ “

But it’s the other stuff where Hamilton is really making his mark. Like Miller, he has a seemingly boundless supply of energy. And like Miller, he is becoming regarded as one of the league’s premier offensive forces.

He ran a wounded Jason Kidd and the Nets ragged in the second round. In the conference Finals, Hamilton is easily the leading scorer at 23.0 while shooting .529.

Hamilton, through his two seasons of playoff success with Detroit, has moved up in recognition. Still not a national name, he is generally regarded as one of – if not the – best mid-range shooters in the game. Notice is coming.

“I hope so,” the fifth-season UConn product said. “I do everything I can to go out, play hard and lead my team to victory. If we continue to win games and get where we want to get to, everybody gets noticed. More and more people see me and see how I’ve developed.”

Including everybody involved in this series.

“I saw it when he was in Washington [playing with the Wizards],” said Pacer GM Donnie Walsh.

“He really works coming off screens. He really runs. He’s very fast and he’s constantly working. That’s what Reggie does. They don’t get open because somebody sets a pick.”

Walsh quickly responded “he should be” when it was mentioned Hamilton doesn’t always get mentioned with the present elite.

“He’s their main threat, and people are doing things to try to stop him and he still gets 20 points a game,” said Walsh.

Hamilton’s greatest asset may just be that energy. He never stops. He uses screens superbly and works for his shots. Guarding him is as appealing as flu.

“I’m in shape. I can run forever. If I ever get tired, the person that’s guarding me is exhausted. I just know that for a fact,” Hamilton claimed, noting his advantage in age (26) to Miller (38).

“Reggie has a lot of miles on him. Reggie’s been playing 17 years. He doesn’t want to be chasing me around. At that age I wouldn’t want to be chasing a young guy around, either.”